Kirrage David, Hunt David, Ibbotson Sue, McCloskey Brian, Reynolds Gary, Hawker Jeremy, Smith Gillian E, Olowokure Babatunde
Health Protection Agency, Hereford and Worcestershire Health Protection Unit, UK.
Respir Med. 2007 Aug;101(8):1645-51. doi: 10.1016/j.rmed.2007.03.010. Epub 2007 May 21.
The outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that occurred in Hereford, West Midlands UK in 2003 was the single largest outbreak of Legionnaires' in Hereford and one of the first to challenge the newly formed Health Protection Agency. This was, de facto a 'public health incident' requiring not only the investigation and management of a community outbreak of infectious disease, but also one that had to take into account other issues including: uncertainty regarding roles and responsibilities, political considerations and communication needs including sustained media attention. The incident also demonstrated the 'added value' of an integrated health protection response. The practical lessons learned from outbreaks are rarely described, particularly operational aspects. This paper summarises the outbreak, outlines specific elements of the response and identifies some of the key learning points for the new Agency and its partners. A number of these lessons have a generic applicability to the handling of public health incidents.
2003年在英国西米德兰兹郡赫里福德发生的军团病疫情，是赫里福德有史以来规模最大的军团病疫情，也是最早对新成立的健康保护局构成挑战的疫情之一。事实上，这是一起“公共卫生事件”，不仅需要对社区传染病疫情进行调查和管理，还必须考虑其他问题，包括：职责角色的不确定性、政治因素以及沟通需求，其中包括媒体的持续关注。该事件还展示了综合健康保护应对措施的“附加价值”。从疫情中学到的实际经验教训很少被描述，尤其是操作层面的内容。本文总结了此次疫情，概述了应对措施的具体内容，并为新成立的机构及其合作伙伴确定了一些关键的经验教训。其中许多经验教训在处理公共卫生事件方面具有普遍适用性。
